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Course: Entrepreneurship > Unit 1
Lesson 4: Philip Rosedale - Founder and Chairman of Second LifePhilip Rosedale - Evolving ideas vs. new ideas
Philip Rosedale, Founder of Coffee and Power, draws the distinction between companies that offer products distinguished by differentiation versus those that offer something fundamentally new. Philip goes on to discuss what drives him as an entrepreneur. Created by Kauffman Foundation.
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Is being an entrepreneur about ideas and motivation?(16 votes)
Ideas and motivation are certainly two factors in the the locomotion of moving into the spotlight. The idea, whether one is building upon an established entity and hoping to carve out a piece for themselves; or a new one that is intended to change the way consumers do, view, or use the product. Tie in directly with the motivation to bring the idea to fruition and to the consumer, or motivate the consumer to want the goods or services. I believe that the research done in evaluating the efficacy of the endeavor, shed light on how challenging it will be to achieve success. In this discovery one can be motivated to meet the challenges and in turn have a better understanding of what might best motivate the consumer to gravitate to the goods or services. Or find themselves not motivated and in turn unwilling to meet the challenges of motivating the consumer. So the answer is yes, it is about ideas and motivation; but it it involves a number of other factors.(8 votes)
Can someone concisely define arbitrage? (He mentions it at about1:50)(4 votes)
Arbitrage is the buying and selling of something in two different markets when one market has a lower price for a thing (where you buy) and different market has a higher price for the same thing (where you sell) in order to capture the profit between the two markets pricing.(17 votes)
It seems that Mr Rosedale wanted to establish as many businesses as was possible and see if he could sell off his businesses for a maximum profit? He talks to vaguely about what he is creating! What does he make or produce exactly? I doubt that he believes strongly in whether or not his companies actually contribute something to society. Some people, it appears, just want to call themselves entrepreneurs.(6 votes)
I concur with Interstellar Monkey's doubts as I got the same sort-of "enlightened" vibe from this guy. I'm in college right now and I know a lot of people here who are studying business/entrepreneurship more or less for the purpose of coming up with great ideas and then selling the creative rights for maximum profit (just look at all the apps & companies Facebook bought in the last year). Sadly, it does seem (to me) that a lot of people seem to look at entrepreneurship as a yellow brick road to early retirement without being all that personally invested in the long life and well-being of their creations. That's not at all a bad aspiration in life, but as a game designer who was really excited about the possibilities of "Second Life" it somewhat disappoints me to see that Rosedale appears to be more interested in the money and fame than the creative process.(9 votes)
- 6:30pm In starting a business (website), is it feasible to keep trying after two years when you have tried everything you can to get it off the ground? Very limited resources.(5 votes)
I'd suggest reaching out to other similar people/businesses that are currently at the level that you'd like be. Even a few nicely-written friendly emails can work wonders and perhaps net you some good advice. For some, aiming for the sky works great, while others need small, obtainable goals, and both approaches have been proven again and again to work.(5 votes)
at0:35he said that money was not the force that drives people , but i have seen a lot of people and businesses corrupted by their greed for money.(5 votes)
Generally, people start (whatever they do) because they like doing/creating/solving/helping what their business does. However, I would say you are both correct ... money can drive people.(3 votes)
So it's all about sharing with your friends, building community within network and gathering many spam messages from your pals? really have to pass by this idea. It's so crazy it just might work.(4 votes)
How does one motivate middle to high schoolers to become inventors particularly in a society where social media and the entertainment industry keep them/us so preoccupied/fed?(2 votes)
Resist the temptation of tv and video games.(2 votes)
- SO what exactly is coffee and power(2 votes)
How do you come up with new ideas in business?(2 votes)- It's time battle with Evolving ideas vs. new ideas!
Ready...
Fight!(2 votes)
1:50Video transcript
- I'm Philip Rosedale. I think entrepreneurs just love
the spotlight in many cases, a lot more than the actual money, but it's sort of money
that measures the size of that spotlight in a lot of communities. I think all the really great risk-takers and entrepreneurs are motivated
by some sort of observation about possibility in the world around them or something they can build
that they just can't get out of their head. And it usually doesn't seem to
be money that motivates them, it's sort of a more powerful force, it's just sort of a fantasy or an idea that you just can't stop thinking about. Some people call themselves
serial entrepreneurs, and I always think that
that's almost a career choice. And it wasn't really
mine. I'd call myself more of an inventor. I get passionate about
imagining building something, and then trying to build it,
and then seeing if it works. That's caused me to work on
several different projects that are entrepreneurial, but I think there are a lot
of really amazing people in the community that are there to be entrepreneurs, over and over again, successfully, regardless of what the
ideas they work on are. I'm more of that kinda crazy inventor who really is passionate and particular about what he actually works on. You know, for me, as an inventor, and I guess, more of a futurist, the idea always comes first. So, the possibility that something about the
world could be different than the way it is right now,
or is likely to be different, with a little help, that is always what drives me. And then I start thinking,
is the technology here yet to enable that? Could I really actually do it? When you think about
entrepreneurial projects and you think about the
businesses behind them, and whether you can actually
make money and do something, there's really two different domains, and I tend to think of
one and not the other. The first domain is kind of
arbitrage and differentiation, where maybe you're trying
to take an existing market, and capture a piece of it for yourself, by doing something in that
market better or differently. There's another idea though, where you believe that
by creating some kind of fundamentally new experience
or capability for people, there's kind of a new
market that'll be created that doesn't really have a
lot of competitors in it, but that market might be
of value enough to people that they'd be willing to pay for it. I'm a value creator. So I always think on that side of, I don't really wanna compete
with an existing market, I wanna create a whole new market, and then the important question to ask is, is there enough value in the experience that we're giving people with
this new technology or product that they'd actually be willing
to pay something for it? That's the way I always
think about new products. So this concept of network effects, and focusing on products
where everybody is in some sort of a shared
space or community in which they all improve the
overall value of the product to everybody else. Those are the products that I
think are interesting to me, and I think they're interesting
to many entrepreneurs, and probably a simple thing
to do if you're a student or a young entrepreneur thinking
about your first project. Focus on ones that potentially
have those network effects. It's a matter of imagining the future, and then asking whether
there's a chance yet to jump ahead and actually
build that future.